Arcoroc Stockholm

The 27 cl tumbler is on the small side for a soft drink with ice, but exactly right for water at the table and for juice. If you want a glass that also handles half a litre of soft drink with ice, you are looking for a highball model. The 4 cl shot glass follows the usual measure for a spirit; always check that, because shot glasses run from 2 to 6 cl and that makes a considerable difference when pouring. Buy shot glasses in larger numbers than you think you need, because they disappear faster than tumblers.

Serve spirits cold but not frozen: jenever and vodka around six degrees, herbal liqueurs a little warmer. Fill the shot glass to half a centimetre below the rim, so people can toast without spilling. The classic recipe for a kopstoot puts the shot glass next to a beer glass, and a layered B52 you pour carefully over the back of a spoon so the layers stay separate. Chill the bottles half an hour in advance and you will not need ice at all.

Tempered glass is less sensitive to thermal shock, which is handy if you take shot glasses out of the freezer and fill them straight away. Do put them the right way up in the dishwasher: small glasses standing upside down trap water in the hollow and dry badly. The narrow foot of the tumbler is where stress gathers, so do not push these glasses into each other unless they are meant to be stackable.

The rest of the brand is under Arcoroc, where the larger models are too. If you only want small sizes, look at the schnapps glasses or at the wider selection of shot glasses from other brands. For the dining table the water glasses are the logical next step, and anyone who wants to measure precisely rather than guess uses a jigger. For larger groups it pays to buy generously per size.